Residential telephone subscribers often find it necessary to call their own line to communicate with a family member or a baby sitter. Often, the reason for making the call may be minor. For example, a subscriber away from home may wish to remind a family member at home, such as a child, to perform some task, such as homework. Some times, the reason for calling home may be more important. For example, a subscriber who is traveling may want to call home to alert a family member of a sudden change in plans, such as a delayed arrival because of bad weather.
Not surprisingly, a subscriber seeking to call his/her own home number may experience a busy signal as a consequence of a family member using the phone. If the subscriber enjoys call waiting, the family member using the phone hears a pulsed tone indicating an incoming call. In response, the family member on the phone can receive the incoming call by executing a "flash" on-hook operation. Reception of the "waiting" call is dependent on willingness of the party on the phone to execute the flash on-hook operation. In some instances, the party on the phone may choose to ignore the pulsed tone signaling a waiting call. Depending on the nature of the call, the party on the phone may even choose to disable the call waiting option, particularly if the party is using the phone to establish a data connection to an On-line or Internet Service Provider.
In addition to call waiting, a telephone subscriber may also subscriber to a network-based messaging service that records a message when the subscriber's own line is busy or does not answer. Thus, a subscriber trying to reach his/her own line can leave a message when the line is busy. However, a family member may not necessarily access the message on a timely basis, if at all. The subscriber has no way of knowing whether the message was indeed received and acknowledged.
Most providers of local telephone service allow their operators to interrupt an existing call to a subscriber's premises on an emergency basis. While the subscriber seeking to call his/her home may believe that the call is important, in actuality, the reason for interrupting the call is not likely to be an emergency to justify an operator's intervention. Consequently, without an actual emergency, a subscriber may be unable to reach home because the line is busy.
Thus, there is a need for a technique to allow a subscriber to interrupt a call on the subscriber's line after receiving a busy signal.